SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Southern Baptists have pledged to support an anti-gay marriage initiative on the March 2000 ballot, saying it affirms the sanctity of marriage.
The motion to support Proposition 22, which would prohibit the state from recognizing same-sex marriages, received unanimous support at the California Southern Baptist Convention on Wednesday.The move comes a day after the Georgia Southern Baptist Convention ousted two churches for allowing homosexuals to be church leaders and for allowing a gay marriage to be performed at one of the churches.
The motion to support the initiative was made by Norma May of Glendale, a trustee of the church's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, which instructs churches on the moral and social implications of political issues.
"It's a significant positive statement to reaffirm the sanctify of marriage," May said. "Some people say this is negative, but I don't see it that way. We need strong family values now with all the violence that goes on."
The convention also overwhelmingly voted, without debate, to condemn Gov. Gray Davis for signing recent gay-rights bills.
The state organization will send a letter to Davis outlining their "disapproval of recent bills passed in California giving special rights to homosexuals," said the Rev. Wiley Drake.
The new laws ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in public schools, strengthen protection against job discrimination based on sexual orientation and provide health benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of state employees.
"When the governor signed this legislation he made clear that he believed that all Californians have a contribution to make," Davis spokesman Michael Bustamante said.
Davis has not taken a position on Proposition 22, Bustamante said.